What You Cannot Fathom
by mistlove
Summary: They've never understood each other. What the other was feeling was something neither could have ever fathomed.


NO PERVERTED COMMENTS AND OR REQUESTS IN REVIEWS. RUDE REVIEWS WILL RESULT IN THE STORY BEING TAKEN DOWN. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE AUTHOR.

**Title:** What You Cannot Fathom  
**Summary: **They've never understood each other. What the other was feeling was something neither could have ever fathomed.  
**Author:** mistlove  
**Copyrights:** Plot is mine. Everything else belongs to Amano Akira.  
**Notes:** Chrome is depicted a little differently than in my other fics. I'd like to think her TYL character is a little bit more dark and outgoing…. So, uh, I hope you likes. Please review! :D  
_ _ _ _ _

She'd never forget that day. Never.

Mukuro was fighting a member from a rival family of the Vongola. It wasn't going as planned, which was a quick kill with no injuries sustained. The mist guardian was bleeding profusely from many new wounds, standing wobbly and barely dodging the oncoming attacks.

The cloud guardian had stood watching, already having said that he would only fight when Mukuro failed. Maybe it was out of spite. Maybe it was because of that one rainy day so long ago when he had lost to this very man before him.

Mukuro soon ran out of strength and had said a few simple words, "I have not lost. I shall leave this to you instead, my dearest Chrome."

She had taken over control of her body again only to find it battered and broken.

"You're mine!" The man dived forward with his sword for the kill shot.

She braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut, too weak to defend.

A firm arm wrapped around her back, clutching her close.

There was a loud screeching sound.

"Your opponent shall be me." Hibari's cool voice was heard. "She's already too weak to fight any longer."

"K-Kyouya...?" She forced her tired eyes open to see him defending her with one sole tonfa.

He glanced down at her before turning to his opponent. His cloud aura bristled around him fiercely. He tightened his grip on her weak body.

"This will be over quick."

And it was. His strength, so unrelenting and overwhelming, charmed yet scared her.

He had ended it in five quick moves while keeping her safe. Two dodges and three hits to the vital areas collapsed the opponent the mist guardian had been struggling with for well over an hour.

Hibari tossed his tonfa into the air and quickly pulled out his cloud box, retracting both tonfa. He turned his gaze to her.

"Kuromu," he said softly. He had always been the sole person to call her by the Japanese adaptation of her name. He gripped her gently, picking her up bridal style. "Stay conscious. You don't want to die, do you?"

Suddenly, she felt such bitter resentment at him for a reason she didn't know.

"Did you do it... to spite Mukuro-sama?" Her hands grasped at his clothes weakly. "Did you save me because... I wasn't Mukuro-sama...? Why... Why did you save me?" she managed to ask faintly, the look in her single purple eye a troubled one.

He glanced at her. The cold look in his eyes softened ever so slightly before hardening again. "I did not save you because you were not Rokudo Mukuro." He looked away. " I did it... because you are _Dokuro Kuromu_."

Those were the last words she heard before a blanket of darkness enveloped her.  
_ _ _ _ _

How funny. That had already happened so long ago, a good two months ago. He hadn't talked about it since and never answered her questions. So she had left him alone and let it be.

Chrome stood waiting patiently in front of her boss's desk. The brown-haired tenth Vongola sat, rustling through his stack of papers urgently. To her side, a certain black-haired adonis stood, looking disapproving and annoyed at the wait.

"Ah, I-I got it." Tsuna pulled out a large gold-orange envelop and handed it to her. "Chrome, could you take this to Lal-san in the next town over for me?" He smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry to be making you run all of these errands. You're still recovering after all..."

"It's fine, boss. I can handle it."

"Tsunayoshi, I hope you haven't made me wait here all this time for nothing." Hibari raised an eyebrow at his boss.

Tsuna squirmed nervously.

_Boss... _Chrome sighed mentally. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"I, um... don't have the information you wanted."

Hibari gave him the death glare.

"But um, Takeshi knows some stuff about that family! You should take him with you," Tsuna finished quickly.

He narrowed his cobalt eyes. "Yamamoto Takeshi...?" he repeated.

Tsuna paused, cringing. Wrong person to suggest. Yamamoto and Hibari hadn't been on good terms since the incident with Haru. Haru had been knocked out and they were surrounded by enemies. Hibari, who was still relatively in good shape, decided that fighting everybody instead of getting away safely with Haru was more important. As a result, Haru had several bad cuts and bruises when she returned. The earlier event with Mukuro and Chrome didn't help with anything. Usually ever-so-nice Yamamoto had been so mad he had thrown out several wild insults at the prefect. A bad fight would've broken out had he and Gokudera not stop them.

"I- er, meant to say Hayato," Tsuna corrected urgently. "Hayato knows about that family, not Takeshi. S-Sorry."

Hibari smiled dangerously. "Your lies are so transparent, it makes me sick." He drew out his cloud box. "Shall I teach you the reason why you shouldn't lie to me?"

"Kyouya, stop it." Chrome reached up and grabbed his arm. "I'll go with you."

The cloud glanced at her. "... You have information on the family?"

"I know a little bit if you're talking about the Beccio Family." Chrome let got his arm and brushed some stray strands of her hair from her face. "Lal-san should know more. If you don't mind taking a detour with me, we'd probably be able to get more information than boss can find for us in his busy schedule."

Hibari paused, seeming to consider it. "... Alright." He shot another glare at Tsuna. "Next time, you won't be so lucky."  
_ _ _ _ _

"What will you do?" she asked softly, her gaze on the packet of papers in his hand.

The two guardians strode down the empty hallway, the exit coming into view. The packet delivered and the information obtained from Lal's base, they were heading back into the city to find a hotel to sleep in before they went back to headquarters.

"Needless to say, I'm going to strike at their weak points with this information." He flipped through the papers and scanned them lightly. "I'm quite disappointed in Tsunayoshi for not taking down such an easier target sooner."

"... Will you be going by yourself?" Chrome asked innocently. Maybe a chance to fight together would give her some insight on how he acted the way he did on that incident two months ago.

His cobalt eyes flickered over to her. "... Do you wish to come with me?"

She gazed at him, a small smile surfacing on her pink lips. No matter how difficult he was, he had a strange commitment of always indulging to her whims. She was glad she had this advantage now. She wanted so badly to know what he was thinking and feeling behind those cold, nearly emotionless cobalt eyes.

A wry smile curved her lips now. "It's not impossible... is it?" She had picked up Mukuro's habit of trite smiles somewhere along the years.

The cloud guardian stopped and gazed at her for a long moment. He seemed to have guessed her intention. He closed his eyes.

"... I'm not going to cater to that wish this time."

"Why not?" Chrome slowed to a stop. She was more than a little surprised by his answer.

"Because," he replied, pacing ahead again. "you are still injured."

She felt her eye widen. He cared for her? He didn't want her to get hurt?

"You would just hold me back. Dokuro Kuromu."

Chrome felt the annoyance rise up inside of her. He always looked down on her. An eye for an eye. She wasn't going to take an insult like that and not insult him back. She quickly caught up to him, trotting by his side.

"Don't underestimate me, Kyouya," she said carefully. "I can fight. Let me help you."

"Are you suggesting that I need help to defeat one trifling family?" he snapped, his eyes narrowing into a glare at her.

"You look like you would need some help," she smiled, amused by his angry reaction.

BAMPH.

Hibari had her against the wall in a split second with his left hand pressed against the wall by her head. His cobalt eyes were narrowed in glare that pierced through her own purple eye. He was a good head taller than her and she wouldn't deny she was a little intimidated by him. She pressed her back against the cold, metal wall.

"What's wrong?" He smirked at her. He leaned in a little closer. "You can't do much without your Mukuro-sama, can you?"

THWACK.

He let her hit him. And she knew it. She lowered her hand. Looking away wordlessly, she couldn't help but feel frustrated and humiliated.

"You're taunting me," Hibari murmured. His tongue flicked out and licked the blood clean from his lips. "What are you after?"

Silence.

"I'm... not sure I understand myself..."

She reached up and cupped his cheek in her small hand. The hallway suddenly turned into a clear, azure blue river with pink and white lotuses sprouting up to their faces. The air smelled sweet, a mixture of spring season and wet water. A lotus bud wrapped around her neck and then resting in front of her right eye eyepatch, sprouted into a purple lotus. A small mirror rested in the center of the lotus, reflecting Hibari's deep, dark cobalt eye back at him.

"... Undo the illusion," he warned, his cloud aura emanating from his body. "I'm in no mood for them."

"And if I tell you I don't want to?" she whispered, her thumb stroking his cheek tenderly. The purple lotus over her eyepatch evaporated into mist.

"... That's fine too. We'll play at that."

The water turned crimson red and the flowering lotuses were engulfed in darkness. Hands of black ink started to slink around her body, their hold already overwhelming.

"No...!" she gasped, her eye widening in horror.

The shadow hands slipped around her neck and up to her face, gripping tightly and unforgivingly on her. The silver metal walls started bleeding black tears. The cloud guardian melted before her eyes into the pool of red blood at her feet.

"NO! S-STOP...!" she shrieked, tears slipping out of her purple eye. "STOP IT!"

Chrome flailed weakly against the hold, desperate, the tears streaming down her cheek. The darkness was so overpowering and terrifying. She started to feel faint and her body watery, as if ready to melt into the walls behind her.

"S... Stop..."

The illusion disappeared, instantly replaced with the familiar monochrome silver hallway.

Hibari gazed at her tear-streaked face, expressionless. "I suppose you have learned your lesson?"

Chrome managed a weak glare at him before hastily wiping her tears. She sniffled, looking away.

"... Let's go. You must be tired."

He started down the hallway again. All he heard for a few moments were his own footsteps and then after a half-minute, her heels clicked gently on the cold floor after him. She followed behind him about a foot. He opened the heavy metal door to reveal an already darkened city. The mist guardian gasped. She let out a small whimper and clutched his arm, burying her face into his sleeve.

He let her do so, leading her into the street slowly. He felt somewhat guilty for using her fear against her in such a cruel manner. He didn't want her to push herself because she was injured. Even with injuries, he knew that she wouldn't hold him back if she came with him on the mission. He knew full well how strong she had grown over the past eight years.

She wasn't a helpless little girl any longer. She wasn't dependent on the male mist guardian anymore. Her illusions rivaled Mukuro's and she herself, was never fooled by the mirages of others. But she had a fatal weakness. And if someone brought it to life through illusions, no matter how weak it was, she would be helpless against it. It was her fear of the darkness, manifested into hands that held her hostage. Hands of the deepest, darkest black that had dragged her down to near death when she was still called 'Nagi'...

"Do you... still want to come with me?" he asked, glancing over at her shaking figure.

She didn't reply.

"Why won't you answer?" he prompted, stopping. "Are you angry at me? Or perhaps you are too scared to speak?"

"... I _wish_ to come with you," she said finally, rubbing at her eye carefully. Her single eye locked with his.

He was silent for a long moment. "If that is what you really wish... I'll let you come this time. Mind your wounds."

He pulled his arm free from her and continued down the dimly lit street.

She watched his fading figure for a good minute before quickly following after.  
_ _ _ _ _

"Take off your shirt." Chrome pushed him towards the bed roughly. "You're bleeding."

"I don't take orders from you, Kuromu," Hibari snapped back. His pale hand hovered over the large wound on his left side. Blood slid over his long fingers, a sickeningly bright crimson color.

She ignored him and grabbed a handful of bed sheets, ripping them into long strips.

"I don't need aid." He swatted at her hands. "Go back to your room."

The mist guardian gave him a long look before shoving him down onto the bed, where she knelt over him. She started to unbutton his inner shirt, careful to not disturb the still bleeding wound.

"Get off... or I'll bite you to death."

The cloud guardian felt his cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. She was unscathed yet he, the strongest of the guardians, had been badly wounded. She could force him into such a possessive position when normally, he could easily overpower her.

"You wouldn't hurt me," she replied dryly, her gaze focused on the wound.

He couldn't reply, knowing she was right.

She dabbed at it gently with the leftover bed sheet. She plucked an unopened water bottle off of the night stand and poured a small handful over the wound. She capped it again and tossed it aside before continuing to dab at his wound.

"How careless. It's not like you," Chrome muttered.

Hibari didn't reply for a moment. "... Kuromu, I don't understand you."

"Ah, you don't?" An amused chuckle rolled from her pink lips. "Funny, I don't understand you either."

Silence.

"I wish... you would reach out when you needed a hand," the purple-haired continued, her tone much softer now. "You always try to bear the pain these days."

"Strength is nothing more than how well you hide the pain," he replied, closing his eyes. "Do you not know that?"

"Men are always insistent on being strong... to protect the women." Chrome sounded frustrated. "Does it ever occur to you that we can fight for ourselves?"

"I didn't become strong for you." Hibari opened his cobalt eyes, sitting up.

The purple-haired stumbled off the bed from his sudden movement. Quickly regaining her footing, she turned her one-eyed gaze to him.

"I didn't become strong so I could fight for you or protect you." He put a hand over his wound again, the look in his eyes distant. "I became strong for myself. Do you know why people want to have strength?"

She didn't reply.

"It's because they learned that strength is what you need when it's the only choice you have left."

"... Are you the same?"

She didn't wait for a reply because she already knew the answer.

"Kyouya. Why do you act so differently every time we fight together?" A frown creased her white forehead. She put a hand to her head, shaking it frustratedly. "Why do you insist on confusing me like this...?"

He knew what she was hinting at. "... I did not save you because you were not _Rokudo Mukuro_."

"What does that mean?" she demanded. "I am Dokuro Chrome. I am not Mukuro-sama. Of course you know that. You _saved_ me because I am not him...?"

"No."

Hibari stood up. He took several steps forward, stopping a half-foot in front of her.

"I refuse to see you as another side of Rokudo Mukuro." He took her small face in his hands tenderly. "You are a different person altogether. I saved you because you are _Dokuro Kuromu_."

Her eye widened in understanding.

"Because I am... who I am."

A smile curved his lips. "Yes... because you are Dokuro Kuromu."

He leaned in and kissed her. His kiss explained all of his strange words and actions, was gentle but filled with lust. She slipped her arms around his neck, kissing him back fiercely. She finally knew how he felt. They broke apart after a minute.

Hibari pulled away, a hand coming up to cover his lips. "... Now you understand," he muttered.

"Yes. And you..." She smiled. "understand me now too, don't you?"

He stared at her before nodding.

Silence.

He took his hand from his lips, revealing a slow smile. "You are... Dokuro Kuromu."

She smiled back.

"Yes, I am."

"And you are mine..."

He captured her lips again.  
_ _ _ _ _

NO PERVERTED COMMENTS AND OR REQUESTS IN REVIEWS. RUDE REVIEWS WILL RESULT IN THE STORY BEING TAKEN DOWN. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE AUTHOR.


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